Tears of an African violet

by Jessica Gereaux

  “We have a war to win. I need you to record. Come with me.” I walked out of the room and to the elevator.

  We rode down to the Pods where Blue and Gio were. First, I turned the light up and the sound on so they both could hear me and each other. Then, I removed their blindfolds again.

  “Wake the fuck up, bitches!” I yelled in the mic.

  Both of them popped their heads up and tried to get their bearings. It took a minute to adjust to the light. It was bright as hell, like sitting in a white ball of blinding light.

  “I got a few things to show you, boys.”

  Black pulled up the videos of the houses being blown up and projected them onto the room’s walls.

  “Familiar, Gio? Huh, Blue?”

  Neither responded, but fear rose in Gio. He knew exactly what this meant. Blue only cringed at Gio’s house, blowing up. He realized he could’ve been inside.

  “Gio, pay attention.” I left the control room.

  In Blue’s pod, I moved his chair down until he was leveled with me. I checked and made sure I had Gio’s attention. His eyes were wide with uncertainty. He had no idea what was about to happen. My attention turned back to Blue. His eyes met mine with anticipation.

  “Miss Kae, I’m so sorry for whatever I did. I didn’t set your wife up, I swear,” he pleaded.

  “I know.” I pulled out the nine in the blink of an eye and shot him right between the eyes.

  “Ooooh, shit! What the fuck!?” Gio screamed out for Blue when I pulled the trigger.

  The blood ran down the bridge of his nose and dripped on his lap. Fear had been replaced, if only for a moment, by shock and genuine disbelief. I went back to the control room. Gio was doused with salt water at the touch of a button. He screamed again at the fire that had been reignited. I rotated Blue’s chair to face the window they shared. Gio was face to face with his friend, who had a smoking bullet hole in his head. I lowered the lights in his room and turned off the sound. The only thing he could see was Blue’s dead body in the window. I raised a shotgun via a joystick to the entrance of his rectum. He stared at his friend’s lifeless body with a gun in his ass. His mind raced, I was sure, and on the other hand, I didn’t give a fuck.

  “You feel better now?” Black grinned.

  “Not yet.”

  I walked down the hall to the cells. Zuberi was in the last cell cuffed to the wall and sitting in a chair. Put the code in, and the door opened.

  “Start now,” I said to Black over my shoulder.

  Zuberi looked up at me. Without warning, I pulled out my nine and shot towards the floor. I knew I’d miss, but he jumped as anyone would. He fell out of the chair while still cuffed to the wall. He had nowhere to go. I raised the gun and pistol-whipped the shit out of his face before he could say a word. He kept asking me what the fuck was going on and who I was. I continued to pound his face with no words. His nose and mouth began to bleed, and his eyes swelled. He yelled and asked more questions that weren’t answered. Finally, I stopped, tilted his head up, and forced the gun in his mouth. His eyes grew wide with fear, and he knew his life was over. He squeezed his eyes closed and prepared to die. Click. Click. Click. Click. I pulled the trigger four times quickly. He opened his eyes slowly. When he realized he wasn’t dead, tears started to run down his face. I removed the gun from his mouth, hit him in the side of the head, and knocked him out. I stood up straight, backed out of the cell, and closed the door. Black stopped recording.

  “I thought you were going to kill him. Do you feel better now?” He took a deep breath. “What about damaged goods?”

  I tossed the clip from my pocket, and he caught it.

  “I won’t feel 100% better until I have my wife back. Released a little tension, though. You make sure Jacob gets this back to them,” I replied.

  I went into one of the restrooms and washed my hands, and cleaned the blood off my face. Then, I changed shirts and put my other shirt into the furnace shoot. We took the elevator upstairs. We gave the video to Jacob to send to Femi when we got upstairs.

  “It makes more sense to hold her at the base. This is out of character for Femi. I wouldn’t put it past his brother Faraji to do this. He’s pissed I have his brother. Which proves to them that blood is thicker than money.”

  “I guess his anger has gotten the best of him now,” Black chuckled.

  “It has always been his downfall and his ego. Femi has the art of negotiations, but, unfortunately, he failed this time when it counted the most.” I watched Jacob work his magic.

  He edited and encrypted the video and sent it to the number.

  “It’s done, and according to your clock, they have 30 hours,” he reported.

  “I need your help with my plan. First, I need a fleet of LED vans with artillery conversions.”

  “What kinds of conversions? We only have so much time on our hands, Kae.” Jacob was unsure.

  “Jacob, your team’s the best. I know you can handle anything. We’re going to war, and I need your A-game.”

  “My Lab is at your command. I can’t wait to see what this brilliant mind of yours comes up with.” He smiled at me like a Cheshire cat.

  “I need 28 LED vans armored up. Peel back the roofs for Rocket launchers with automatic reload and a nest for the shooter on seven. I need 21 LED vans with machine guns mounted on both sides.50 shells with scopes. Everything is remote access. Can you handle that? In about fifteen hours?” I asked him seriously.

  Black and Jacob both stared at me with their mouths hanging open. I couldn’t tell if they were in shock or not.

  “Are you planning to go up against their army?” Black tried to determine if I was serious.

  “I’m doing this. I told you I’ll go through any and everyone, including an army. So you said you were with me, you changing up on me now?” I questioned him.

  “I’m not Gio. You’ll never have to question my loyalty. So don’t ever do it again. If you’re going to do this, then I’m calling in my cavalry; The Calvary. We need all hands on deck. Give me a few hours, and I’ll have the backup we need,” he said with conviction and determination in his eyes.

  “I’m going to the Opal. He’s willing to sacrifice his soldiers at the base. Will he do the same for his whole family? I’ll force his hand, or I’ll blow his baby brother’s head off in front of him. I’m done playing games.” I pounded my fist on the desk.

  “Let me make some phone calls. I’ll have drivers, shooters, and foot soldiers here in a few hours. If we are going to war, baby, then we must go in style. These guys are the underbelly of the underbelly.” He kissed my forehead and disappeared out of the office.

  “I’ll split the team into groups and get them working more efficiently. We have an army to take down.” Jacob started to bark orders at the team over his earpiece.

  Outside, the fresh fall air was cool on my face. I breathed it in. It was cold enough to see my breath. I rubbed my hands together and blew into them to warm them up. Off on the horizon, Jewel city looked like a magical, lost place. The smog from the factories cast a shadow, and it appears to be on fire, literally. The gang war didn’t show any signs of slowing down. I was sure with Cian dead and Zuberi out of commission, none of the simpleton-ass street levels knew what to do. Femi had his hands genuinely full. His city was out of control and burning down around him. Yet, he had never come up against a hellhound like me. I was ready to rip flesh from his bones and those of his brothers. Black walked up and wrapped my jacket around me.

  “Got some information. Gio’s GPS was hacked. They knew he went to your house, your mama’s house, and Mama G’s house. I’m sure they chose that house because people were there. Best chance to send a message to you. You did the right thing.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “By sending them away. You knew shit could get crazy, and you made the right call, is what I’m saying.”

  “I would be a damn fool to think work would never follow me home one day. But, of course, I wasn’t e
xpecting it to be Mama G’s house.”

  “The Cavalry will be here in four hours. They are suiting up and heading this way. You want to take it to the Opal, then that is where we are going.” He smiled at me.

  It made my heart melt and my pussy thump at the same time. God, this man was still sexy to me. I knew now wasn’t the time to be fantasizing about my baby daddy, but he looked too damn good. He was always sexy as hell to me when he was handling business like a boss. Flashbacks of the things we used to do popped in my head. I smiled to myself.

  “Thank you for always having my back no matter what. A girl needs a man like that in her life.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

  He blushed, and that warmed my heart. Then, Dallas walked up.

  “Auntie, my mama said she wants you to bring yo black ass over to Aunt Mahogany’s house right goddamn now,” he laughed.

  “I knew that shit was coming, damn. I’ll check in with you in a little while. Jacob’s running the conversions. He said they will be done in time. Keep him on track for me,” I asked Black.

  “You know I got you. Go talk to the family. It’s been a long time coming anyway,” he said in a tone more fatherly than anything.

  Houston came outside. We met eyes and nodded at each other. I knew he was alright, and we would be fine. He’d be happier once he knew she was alive. So the three of us jumped in Houston’s car and rode out to the next county to Mahogany’s house. When we pulled up, the whole family was there.

  “They in there, Auntie. Well, most of them,” Dallas chuckled and took a deep breath.

  “Shit, honestly, I don’t have time for this. Let’s get this over with.”

  They followed me as I knocked on the door. When Mahogany saw it was me, she rolled her eyes and smiled at me. We hugged, and I followed her inside.

  “Well, look who finally decided to show their ugly ass face around here,” Mo said as we walked in the kitchen.

  The music was playing, and kids were running everywhere. Chantall was cooking something, and it smelled fantastic as usual. It was good to see them despite the reason. I hugged everyone.

  “Y’all get these kids the hell out of this kitchen. Grown folks gotta talk. Go on, now,” Chantall shouted over the noise and snapped her fingers.

  Dallas and Houston rounded up the kids and got them out of the kitchen. Sandoval turned the music down and offered me a drink. Of course, I turned it down; I had to stay focused.

  “I know y’all upset about ya mama’s house, Lucky and Star...” I began.

  “There’s a goddamn hole in the place where my mama house should be! What if we were there? We would be damn dead right now!” Mahogany yelled with an attitude.

  “If my mama had been there, baby, there ain’t no telling what I’d do to a mothafucka! I’ll walk the dog on a bitch!” Chantall chimed in from the stove.

  “Better yet, what the fuck is you doin’ about it!? Yo’ ass been missing for weeks now! All of a sudden, somebody blows up my mama’s house, and now you show up. What the fuck is really going on?” Mo hurled questions at me.

  “Mo, all I can say is I’m handling it. Y’all got to trust me.” I sat at the bar separating the kitchen from the dining room.

  “Trust you? What kinda bullshit is that? Something’s going on, and you ain’t telling us.” Mo eyeballed me hard as hell.

  “You got my sons out there with you, and I know damn well if something happens to them, I’ll fuck you up myself,” Chantall shot at me.

  “Sis, your sons are grown. What they do is their business. Now, as long as they run with me, I’ll make sure they are safe.” I stared back at her.

  Chantall stared back at me in a battle of wills. I was sure to win this one. She turned her attention back to the stove. Most of her family thought we sold cocaine. In their minds, how else could we explain this much money and sit pretty without a 9-5? Despite the fact, none of them had ever seen us handle or have the product around us. We were content to let them think that, and it had worked for all these years. There are only a few who have a small clue as to what we did. Dallas and Houston were on that shortlist.

  “Well, it’s a good thing I sent them to the islands, ain’t it? Y’all wanna leave too? I can arrange that.” I looked each of them in the eye.

  Marcus and Sandoval smiled, but those smiles quickly faded when they caught the eye of their respective wives. Chantall and Mahogany stared at me like I had sprung three or four heads.

  “If we want to go somewhere, we don’t need you to pay for nothing. We can handle ourselves,” Mahogany rolled her neck.

  “It’s an offer. You seem pretty shook up, and I can’t say that I blame you,” I said evenly.

  “Ain’t nobody goddamn scared. I’m a Romaine; don’t no Kool-aid pump in my heart. I’m mad as hell somebody blew up my mama’s house! Fuck is you talking about?!” Mahogany yelled. She slapped the counter with her hand.

  She fought to hold back her tears. Chantall rubbed her back, and Sandoval hugged her. To me, it didn’t matter. I knew they were scared. Shit was right at the front door. A war they had no idea they were even a part of.

  “Y’all do me a favor and stay out of the city. If you are not going to leave, then stay away. Go to Emerald Point and shop or whatever. Hell, go to Diamond City and vacation for a while, stay out of Jewel City. At least until I say it’s ok,” I tried to reason.

  “I ain’t ’bout to let a mothafucka run me from my home. Imma go where the fuck I wanna go,” Chantall piped up.

  “Hold on now, Chan. If Kae says it’s a good idea, I think we should listen to her,” Marcus stepped in.

  “Kae ain’t ’bout to tell me what the fuck to do. Don’t nobody tell me what the fuck to do. Believe that, Marcus!” she shot back at him with an attitude.

  “Why do you do this shit all the time? She might be saving our lives. Yo’ mama’s house is a hole in the ground. Like Mo said, we could’ve been there. So can you listen to someone else for a change!” he raised his voice at her.

  “Who the fuck is you getting loud with? Don’t raise your voice at my sister in my house, nigga. Is you crazy?!” Mahogany snapped out of Sandoval’s arms.

  “Mo, I’m talking to my wife right now.”

  “Nigga, I don’t give a….” She started walking towards Marcus.

  Sandoval grabbed and pulled her back.

  “Come back here. That ain’t our business.” Sandoval pulled her close to him and locked her in his arms.

  “Hey! I don’t really have time for the fight, y’all. I got shit to handle. Now, if you staying here, stay the fuck out of Jewel City. If you leave, do it as quickly as you can. I’ll send some guys out here to keep an eye out.” I stood up.

  “Kae, listen, um... how long would we have to stay out of the city? I mean, from what I hear, there’s already a war going on between the Fangs, Widows, and Skulls,” Sandoval asked.

  “How do you know what is going on in the streets of Jewel City?” Mahogany asked with a side-eye and a smirk.

  “I have friends, and we talk about shit. Relax, baby, damn,” he soothed her.

  “Know this: Jewel City is off limits until I tell you otherwise. I want you to know I’m going to get the mothafucka that did this. I don’t want any of y’all getting hurt, so do as I ask, please.” I stared at Chan and Mo harder.

  They both rolled their eyes and sucked their teeth at me. Then, Dallas and Houston came back into the kitchen, made a plate, and sat down to eat. Chan got them something to drink.

  “Emerald Point does have some nice shops we haven’t been to in forever.” Chan watched her oldest sons eat.

  Chan made Marcus’s plate, and she called the other kids to the table. Sandoval made Mo and himself a plate and sat down. It almost warmed my heart. I started to feel the anger rising up my spine, and it tickled the back of my head. A message from Jacob popped up. He let me know the fleet was almost done.

  “Nephews, we got to go now.” I walked towards the front door.

 
They stopped eating and stood up, kissed their mama, and shook up with their daddy.

  “Remember what I said. I’ll see y’all in a few days.” We all walked out the door.

  When we pulled up to the Lab, there were several vans lined up outside. More than 150 men and women lined up at attention. The steam rose up from the formation from their breath. It was an impressive black cube to behold. Houston’s mouth dropped when he saw them. We parked and went inside. When we walked in, Jacob’s mouth was going a mile a minute.

  “You know, Kae, you are a hard taskmaster. I pride myself on meeting your approval. Check this out.” He clicked on several keys and pulled up the video feed from the warehouse.

  The team worked on mounting the last few machine guns and doing the safety checks on the screen. On the other screen, the last few multi-rocket launchers were being mounted and completed. They had a 360-degree rotation. Jacob had really outdone himself. He went so far as to add remote-controlled rockets under the van’s front and mounted two machine guns in the hood controlled from the driver seat. He added floodlights and rotating spotlights. Jacob was an engineering genius. I smiled at the machines he had created for me. I patted him on the shoulders and kissed his cheek.

  “You’re the best, Coby! We’re going to war, boys!” I smiled up at Black and the nephews.

  “They are gonna pay forever thinking they could fuck with the Romaines. On God,” Houston said.

  “Nephews, we’re about to get into some real deep shit. We’re going to the next level.”

  “Auntie, I wouldn’t be standing here if I wasn’t ready to do this shit,” Dallas said.

  “We’re going to burn the Opal down if we have to. Every person in that hotel is a trained assassin. We have a militia ready to ride with us outside. I don’t care how old or innocent they seem to be. Don’t trust them if they ain’t us,” I informed them.

  “We understand. We got this handled.” Houston said.

  “Go prepare Zuberi to be moved. This doesn’t work well without him,” I ordered them.

  They disappeared to get Zuberi prepared to take a little ride. We had about twelve hours left on the count down. He’d cooperate, or I’d fulfill my promise.